UCLan students who jammed with rapper Coolio when he came to Preston L-R Claudia Doherty, Rebecca Billinge, Lorcan OMahony, Olivia Johnson-Aley and Melissa Bryan and the guitar the star used

Student life is anything but text book for a group of canny Preston scholars.

The University of Central Lancashire students say their legal training has prepared them for the “craziest week of their lives” after they attracted international attention following an impromptu jamming session in their front room with 90’s rapper Coolio.

The eight housemates, five of who are studying for a Masters in Law at UCLan, have been inundated with requests for interviews and the rights to the video footage of their sing-along with Coolio, recorded after the singer visited their house in Preston to cook a three-course meal.

A video of their acoustic performance of Gangsta’s Paradise has attracted over a million hits since it was posted on You Tube - and the students have given interviews to newspapers, radio and television both home and abroad including NBC news and the Wendy Williams Show in America.

And, they are making money out of it all.

When the tv companies came calling the students were able to put their studies into practice to turn down the offers, realising they would lose all rights and potentially a nice fat profit.

Law masters student 23-year-old Lorcan O’Mahony said: “It’s been very useful to have knowledge of intellectual property as we’ve been approached several times by companies asking to buy the rights to our video. We want to keep full control of the footage and leave it open for people to use.

“Our evening with Coolio was unexpected and we don’t want it to seem contrived because it really wasn’t. You can’t make a video go viral, it just happens.”

The video has now received so many hits that it has attracted advertisers, reaping a small financial reward for the housemates.

While they won’t be able to retire on it, the money will come in handy for the end of term.

Claudia Doherty,21, said: “It’s an unexpected benefit and we’ve agreed to use the money to pay for a few household bills.”

The students made such a good impression on the rapper that he cancelled his plans and returned to Preston last Saturday to perform at Ships and Giggles along with his new backing group.

Rebecca Billinge,also 21, joked: “It was fantastic to go on stage and sing with Coolio again. If he wants us to help him get Gangsta’s Paradise to the Christmas number one he knows where we are.”

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